it's gonna be a long night
by lalaclairi
Summary: He's been in love with Carly for years and he's hated Sam for years and this girl who looks just like her who's name is something like Melanie won't get out of his head. \ Freddie/Carly; Freddie/Sam; Freddie/Melanie


All Freddie Benson wants to do is _forget._

His teenage life is screwed - he's kissed his arch enemy, Sam Puckett, and he's made out (multiple times) with the girls of his dreams - and all of the sudden, he's not sure exactly _what _he wants and these girls sure aren't dropping any clues. They're exact opposites and exactly the same all at once; they both send mixed signals and it's like they want him one minute and the next minute they don't. His loves his Mom, he really does, and she hasn't been _as _bad lately but she's still the same crazy Mom he knows and her and Sam are still ruining his life on a daily basis.

And lately, everything he usually did started to have a deeper meaning to it - like being in the middle of Sam and Carly on the couch. He's sure it means something and it's never meant anything before but now everything is not as clear as it used to be; he's not exactly sure he hates Sam and he's not exactly sure he's in love with Carly anymore.

He doesn't have anyone to talk about his problems to because Spencer is Carly's older brother and may as well be Sam's and Gibby is...well...Gibby. It would seem to weird. And, then, there's times like these when he wishes his Dad and his Mom hadn't divorced and he hadn't moved to California...yeah, he sees him on Christmas and every other birthday...or so, but it just wasn't the _same._

"Yo, earth to Benson!" A voice yelled in ears, frightening him so much that he jumped off the couch like he was on fire. "Did ya hear me?" Sam asked (he knew it was Sam, Carly was to polite to ever do that), raising an eyebrow at him.

"Melanie's visiting again this year - she read the most books at her boarding school for this Young Readers contest and she won, like, three-hundred dollars." Carly informed him, an excited grin on her face. "Oh, you guys, I'm so excited! I haven't seen Melanie in, like, two years! We can stay up all night and watch _Titanic _and _The Runaway Bride _and get a mani-pedi at the mall, and..."

Sam rolled her eyes. Freddie was horribly confused. "Wait! Is Melanie real or not?"

This time, Sam and Carly both rolled their eyes.

"Yes, Freddie, Melanie is _real._" Carly huffed and turned back to the TV, grabbing the remote. "_Girly Cow _just went off...if you see something you like, tell me to stop." As Carly began flipping through the channels, the trio heard knocking at the door. Freddie decided to get it - he never got a say in what they watched, anyway.

"Hey, Gibby. What's up?"

"The sky!" Gibby smiled. Freddie rolled his eyes. "Anyway, do you guys mind if Guppy hangs out with us for a minute? My Mom got stuck in traffic coming home from work and couldn't pick him up in time."

"Sure!" Carly and Freddie said, smiling at the fellow brunette.

"No way!" Sam barked, narrowing her eyes and sticking her bottom lip out.

_That's my girls, _Freddie thought, shaking his head. ...Wait. What did he just think?

As Gibby and Sam fight over who would win in a fist-fight between Superman and Spiderman and Carly complains about how mean the judges for whatever reality show she's watching is, Freddie takes a chance to think over Melanie.

So...she was real. That means he _hadn't _kissed Sam a second time...and he had really kissed her twin sister...her cute twin sister. But wait - Melanie and Sam are identical. So does that mean he thinks Sam is cute? And suddenly he's so confused he needs to lay down for a minute and go to the ever-so-comforting dreamland.

"Uh, I think I'm gonna head home guys," he announces shakily, making his way towards the door. Carly and Sam's heads turn to him at exactly the same time and he notices how worried they both look. "I just have a little headache...you know my Mom will take care of me."

"But-" Carly starts, but he's shutting the door before she can finish her sentence.

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Thankfully the next day is Saturday and that means no school - so it's a little easier to hide from Sam and Carly...yeah, he's a coward. And he's perfectly fine with that.

(The whole day he has this secret fear a blonde maniac will kick down his door, jump on top of him, and take him right there on the couch...or that might be a fantasy...oh gosh, he thinks he's going to be sick...)

His Mom leaves at 7:00 A.M., and after that he goes back to bed and doesn't wake up until one in the afternoon. He finds a pancake with a syrup smiley face on it and a note that says "I love you"...at least someone knows how they feel about him. He doesn't bother to heat it up or throw it out - he's in such an un-Freddie like mood that he eats it cold. He gets a cold glass of water and heads back to bed...and he just stays there for hours, thinking...(Sam and Carly always did say he thought to much).

And he has no idea what time it is or if it's still the afternoon or is it the night now but his nightmare/fantasy halfway comes true when Sam picks the lock and drags him out of his bed, kicking and screaming. Carly's there watching, wide mouth open and he has no idea what she's saying. It's just like old times...except everything is much more complicated and he's pretty sure he's way hotter - what? Girls tell him that all the time!

But there's one person who wasn't there last time. Melanie Puckett is standing in the middle of Carly and Spencer's living room, a hand on her hip and she's like a blonde he's had nightmares so, so many times and she's like a brunette he's dreamed about so, so many times and it's all so very confusing. He's never seen her and Sam in the room at the same time, and it's seriously freaky - they look just alike but they look nothing alike.

Melanie has a goofy smile on her face and is dressed from head to in pink, clutching a unicorn pillow pet tightly to her chest, her magical blonde hair in pigtails tied with matching ribbons. Sam? Sam has an annoyed look on her face and is dressed in millions of layers, all different colors - none of them pink, her arms crossed over her chest and her magical blonde hair flowing down her back.

And then there's Carly, standing next to him and patting him "where it hurts". She's dressed in short-shorts that always manage to drive him crazy, and a wrinkled, loose shirt that he thinks she stole from him when they were thirteen. Her hair is wild and nothing about Carly is usually wild - that's Sam's thing but lately her looks have been more feminine and it's all just to weird. Her hair isn't as magical as the Puckett girls, but it's still nice he guesses.

Hmm...he spent a longer time describing Carly...so maybe he does still love Carly and has the strongest feelings for her, which means he should forget about the Puckett girls and start declaring his love for her again.

But again, his deep, deep thoughts are interrupted by a Puckett. "Hi, Freddie," Melanie whispered shyly, fluttering her eyelashes at him. He had always thought people didn't do that in real life, and this was the first time he had seen it before. ...He knew it meant Melanie was crushing on him, though. Hard.

He can hear a growl in the background and he knows it's Sam. "Hey, Melanie...sorry about last time, think-"

"Let's put that behind us!" Melanie said cheerfully, dropping her pillow pet on the couch and embracing him tightly.

He blushed and he heard another growl. He looked to his side and Carly seemed fine; she had a big smile on her face. Well, he's sure he has the strongest feelings for Carly, but it seems like Sam has the strongest feelings for him...or it might be Melanie. He doesn't know Melanie that well and technically he does because she's a mix of his two best friends - her personality is sweet and cute and innocent, like Carly, but she's also kind of feisty and knows what she wants like Sam does. And she looks just like Sam and dresses just like Carly and she's like the perfect mix.

"You seem to be spacing out a lot lately." His eyes snap open and all three of the girls are standing way to close to him. He hopes they can't hear his heart beating.

He knows Carly said that...or maybe it was Melanie. Now he can't remember which one is which! "Sorry, guys. I've had a lot on my mind." More like a ton.

Sam rolled her eyes and grabbed Melanie by the arm. "Come on, you've seen Freddie...let's go home."

"Sam, you sure you don't want me to walk with Melanie and you?" Melanie nodded her head so hard she was afraid it would fall off. But Sam just pulled on her arm even harder, causing Melanie to gasp.

"Like you can protect us!" And with a snort, the blonds were gone. It was just Carly and him.

"So, um, when is your Mom getting home from work?" Carly asked him, her eyes darting around the room. What? ...Did she look, nervous? Maybe Carly put on an act in front of everyone else? Maybe she liked him back? If she did, she was the obvious first choice - he was in love with her! At least, he thought so. He still isn't decided on that.

"I don't know, twelve?" Freddie tried his best to act cool, shoving his hands in his jean pockets.

_"Freddie, honey! Where are you? Oh my gosh, he's been kidnapped! The lock..."_

"You better get out there before she has a heart attack or something," Carly yawned, falling down on the couch.

He laughed, about to head out the door - but something stopped him. Carly was so tired apparently she had fallen asleep on the couch. He tried to leave her there, but he just couldn't. With a sigh, he picked the girl up - gosh, he thought he had got some serious muscle over the summer, she was still kind of heavy - and took her up to her room. He gently dropped her on the bed and hurried to get to his Mom before she started a search party.

Little did he know after he left a faint smile appeared on her face.

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"So," Melanie started awkwardly, tapping her fingers against the table, "Sam tells me you're the president of the A/V Club?"

The four of them had all came to the mall together, but for some reason Sam had dragged Carly off as soon as they got there and said they would be "right back." And so, he was left with Melanie...whom he had gone on a date with, danced, kissed, and accused of being her twin sister. So of course the whole was going to be awkward.

"Yeah. It's awesome," he replied excitedly. He could tell she thought he was a nerd. But unlike Sam, she didn't voice it - kind of like Carly.

"Cool. I'm the goalie on my school's soccer team," Melanie continued after a while, her eyes darting around the food court.

"That's...cool. I didn't think you were the athletic type."

Melanie raised an eyebrow. "Just because I dress girly doesn't mean I can't get down and dirty," she said with a giggle. Freddie found himself laughing, too, and at this moment Sam and Carly came back over to the table.

"What's so funny?" Sam said rudely, yanking back a chair to sit on. The chair made a fingernails-on-the-chalkboard kind of sound, causing Melanie and Freddie to flinch. They could tell by Carly's face expression she was feeling particularly sassy.

"Um, uh, n-nothing, sis. Freddie and I were just...talking." Melanie whispered, looking at the floor. Freddie decided to do the same.

"Okay, then!" Carly shrieked, seeming to lose her cool. Freddie was scared. _Extremely _scared.

"Uh...oh, look! That outfit on the mannequin over there looks _so _cute! I'm gonna go see how much it costs!" Melanie shouted, running over to the store as fast as a person in heels can run.

So there Freddie was, being shot looks of death by his two best friends.

"What's wrong?" Freddie finally had to ask, raising an eyebrow. Carly's face softened a little at this action. Freddie noticed this and decided to see how smirking would do him. The glare on Carly's face completely disappeared and she bit her bottom lip, turning to Sam and laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Sam, I'm going to catch up with Melanie. You coming?"

Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay." Carly smiled and grabbed Sam by the wrist, dragging the blonde behind her.

Freddie thought about running away back to Bushwell Plaza, but he wasn't an idiot - he knew Sam could easily get into his apartment no matter what he did. So he simply slammed his head on the table and wished he'd give himself a concussion or something like that.

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Melanie is in Seattle for another three days, and the whole she's either hitting on Freddie or doing stuff with Carly she could never get Sam to do with her. And Sam is extra mean while she's visiting, more mean than she had been in a couple of years, and Carly is extra sassy while Melanie is there and he can't help wishing Melanie would just _leave _already so they'd go back to normal - completely ignoring him.

It's at the bus station when she's about to head back to California that she ruins his life forever. She and Sam do this awkward half-hug thing and then Melanie goes over to Carly and they hug like they'll never see each other again.

He thinks Melanie isn't going to say good-by to him, but when it's time for her to get on the bus she runs over to him and kisses him on the lips. There's a loud _smack _and he wants to wrap his arms around her and kiss her back, because it's like Sam or Carly are kissing him (she must've borrowed the same lip gloss Sam is always taking from Carly; twins think alike, after all) but he doesn't and he stands there, his eyes wide open and it's just like their first kiss all those years ago (it wasn't that long ago, but so much has happened since then it feels like a lifetime ago).

He can hear Carly gasp in the background and a familiar growl and it's all a blur as she hurries onto the bus. They wait until the bus leaves to head back home, and it's silent and it's one of those times he wishes he had someone to talk to about this mess.

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It's a month after The Second Melanie Kiss when Carly asks him,

"Do you like Melanie?" It causes him to choke on his smoothie and Carly doesn't pat his back, she just sits there with a serious look on her face.

"What the chiz?"

Carly rolls her eyes (he thinks this is the first time he's seen Carly roll her eyes). "Do you think she's hot or not?" She says shrilly and he thinks he's going to wet his pants.

"Um...no. Because, um, I don't think Sam is hot. And she looks exactly like Sam. So...no. I don't think Melanie is hot." His eyes dart nervously around the Groovy Smoothie; it's not really a lie...he thinks.

Her eyes close and it's silent between the two of them for a minute before Carly opens her eyes again. "Do you think _I'm _hot?" He can barely hear her question and she sounds unsure and nervous and it's the voice she uses around boys she crushes on and he thinks he's going to explode (can humans explode?).

"Of course!" He says just a little to fast and it causes Carly to raise an eyebrow. The raised eyebrow slowly lowers until it's back to normal and then she's leaning over the table and kissing him and it feels so much more _real _than when she first kissed him after he saved her life - and besides that, he's not all broken and dirty and...stuff.

Her arms wrap around his neck and she's leaning just a little bit more and he's leaning, too and the kiss is broken when they knock over their smoothies and it spills on to his lap (of course).

When he pulls away she whimpers and he wants to just forget about the spilled smoothies on his lap and kiss her some more, but it's, like, really cold and it kind of looks like he went to the bathroom in his jeans - people are starting to _finally _think he's cool; he can't ruin it now.

He gets up reluctantly and grabs a napkin, covering himself with it. She still looks mad.

"I'm sorry, Carls...but, um..."

"Just go change and meet me back here," she says, cutting him off. She bites her bottom lip and it's the cutest thing he's ever seen.

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He makes it back to Bushwell Plaza without seeing anyone he knows, and he's almost in his apartment before he hears a loud, rude laugh and he instantly recognizes it, which scares him a little.

"Did you wet your pants, Benson when Carly kissed you?" She laughs, louder this time, and he blushes and she laughs even louder and he wants to crawl into a hole.

"How do you know?" he asks, quietly, and she stops laughing.

"Um...Carly told me."

"Oh...okay then. Well, uh, by Sam." He knows the mood has shifted somehow and he's not sure he likes it.

She doesn't say bye, she just stands there across from him in the empty hallway, her blue eyes seeing right through him...or at least it feels like that's what she's doing. Her blue eyes don't shine and her eyes aren't striking and unique or anything like that...they just seem so unhappy and serious and _ihateyousomuch _that she can stare down pretty much anyone.

He remembers Carly, mad and wanting to kiss him, and hurries into his apartment to change into a new pair of jeans and he's just messed up big time with Sam - that's the only thing he's known for sure in a while.

When he gets back to the Groovy Smoothie Carly doesn't look mad anymore - now she looks disappointed. "What took you so long?"

"I ran into Sam and she started-"

"Making fun of you? That's Sam." She giggles and gets up from the table, grabbing his hand. "The Groovy Smoothie is about to close...we should probably get out of here."

"Sure!" He shouts and she winces; he sounds just like he did before puberty. "How about the park?"

She does her famous Carly Shay smile and yes, he _has_ to still be in love with this angel. "I'd like that."

Still holding hands, they head out into the night, Carly shivering a little from the cold. She insists that she's okay but his Mom raised him as a proper gentleman so he takes off his jacket and wraps it around her shoulders. He feels like they're in a movie and there oh-so-perfect together it's amazing and he's dreamed of this night ever since he was twelve; this...this is Tomorrow.

They join hands again and head over to the park. He can hear children's laughter and see a brunette girl running around, her arms spread wide and her hair flying behind her and a blonde girl telling her they're to old for this - no. She's not going to think of her. Not now.

"I wanna fly, Freddie," she says dreamily and hops on a swing, and he pushes her, and she tells him she's a big girl, he doesn't have to push her so carefully and he blushes but still tries not to push her too hard and it's really so nice for someone to care about you as much as he does about her.

An hour later she isn't ready to go home, but he doesn't want Spencer to hate him or anything so ignoring her protests, he practically drags her back home.

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"Hey! What are you doing?" He squeaks, trying to pull his hand away. His girlfriend simply laughs.

"Drawing," Carly laughs, keeping a firm grasp on his hand, continuing to doodle hearts and shooting stars and other little things on his hand with a purple Sharpie.

He's proud to admit he's totally whipped, and mutters a bit under his breath, but doesn't fight her off anymore after that.

They've been dating for a month now, and it's been like a fairytale - they had a tiny argument a few weeks ago, but they're Carly&Freddie and they belong so they're over it.

(He tries not to think about how he never sees Sam anymore.)

It was Carly's birthday, and he had done the impossible - he had gotten Cuttlefish tickets. Carly had squealed and jumped up and down and kissed him and Sam had tightened her fists and said something about taking her Mom to the clinic and left the apartment. Carly and him hadn't seen her since - but anyway, they were on a bus to Vancouver for the concert.

Carly hadn't said much and he knew she was worrying about Sam; so he was glad she was starting to talk more.

Once there's no more room on his right hand to draw, she puts away her Sharpie and lays her head on his shoulder, squeezing his hand and rubbing circles with her finger on it. It's calming and he feels himself drifting off right when Carly shouts,

"We're here!"

He jumps a little and she laughs, letting go of his hand and he instantly misses her touch. She kisses him on the cheek before she's running off the bus, pushing past annoyed passengers getting off on this stop.

Him, being polite Freddie Benson, gets in line and waits behind every one in front of him. When he gets off the bus he panics because there's no Carly anywhere and then someone's wrapping their arms around his waist and kissing the shell of the ear and he knows from the smell of the lotion it's _his _Carly.

He twists around in her arms and, not wanting to be the girl, wraps his arms around Carly's waist, too. She giggles quietly and does this thing he loves where she lowers her eyelashes over her wide, childlike eyes and he it takes every bit of willpower he has not to fall into her arms.

"We should probably get going, we don't want to miss anything," he says in this mature tone that Carly hates because she wishes he would just let _go _sometimes.

"You're always so serious," Carly says in this whiny tone, sticking her bottom lip out. He kisses her puckered lips and it causes her to giggle some more.

Sometimes...sometimes he wishes she would act a little differently with him than she did with all her other boyfriends, because it makes him worry this is just another meaningless fling for the brunette.

"Caarly..." he says, mocking her whiny tone, and she rolls her eyes.

"Fine!" He excepts her to start walking, but instead she starts running.

"Catch me if you can!" She yells, looking back and her hair is flying behind her and it's just like old times, except she loves him back.

And they might look crazy to other people, two teenagers running and giggling and the girl having her arms spread wide like she thinks she's gonna fly, but for one glorious moment he doesn't care what anyone thinks.

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After three weeks of no Sam, he finds himself on her doorstep, pacing back and forth.

Carly had finally broken down today, and it had infuriated him that this blonde maniac could make her so sad (_ a n d m a y b e h e w a n t s a r e a s o n w h y _). Back at Carly's apartment, it had seemed so much easier - go to Sam's house, demand an answer why she hadn't been hanging out with Carly or answering her calls and she had missed all of the iCarly rehearsals they held this week.

And now that he was here, he was scared out of his mind. But he didn't have any more time to think about how he was going to do this, because ohgoshohgosh Sam opened the door and what are those bags doing under her eyes and she needs to take a shower (Get out of my head, Mom!) and he thinks he's gonna puke.

"What do you want?" She says in her usual bored tone, and all of his anger comes back to him.

"What do _I _want? I want to know why you're treating Carly like this! You know what happened today? She cried herself to sleep! Because of _you! _I - I'm tired of your attitude, Sam. I've had enough." He finishes off his rant in a whisper and he's looking at the floor, waiting for her to realize what he just said and punch him or kick him or something but instead she just stands there. He can't see those blue eyes because her hair is covering her face, and he's glad he can't and at the same time he wishes he could see them.

She mutters something under her breath he can't hear and of course he has to asks, "What?"

Sam glares at him before shutting the door in his face and there's nothing to do except head back to Bushwell Plaza and he's back where he started-

_L o s t._

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Carly breaks up with him at the St. Valentine's Day dance and it hurts so freaking much. Some stupid song is playing and him and Carly aren't really dancing - their just swaying and Carly's eyes aren't shining anymore and he hopes with all of his too big heart that she isn't becoming broken just like you-know-who.

After she says it her eyes widen and a shine justalittle and she sighs and closes her eyes and when she opens them she says, "I can't take that look on your face." And she's runningrunningrunning and it reminds him to much of a girl he once knew.

It's been two...three...seven months since he last saw her and iCarly is going down the drain but iCarly is all he has left and even it's starting to change and he wishes he didn't have to grow up.

...He could really use a dad right now.

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He mopes around the house for two weeks before his Mom decides to cheer him up.

She gets him a car! And for a minute he forgets about _them _and he's doing this funny looking happy dance thing and hugging his Mom like he used to do when he was a little boy and he's soso happy.

"I noticed you haven't been yourself lately...and I thought maybe this would cheer you up...and it did." His mom smiles, weakly, and he feels horrible for making her so worried.

"I'm fine, Mom. Really."

(He can't lie to her. She knows him to well - this is her Freddie Bear, of course.)

But she'll let him believe she believes because this is probably something she couldn't understand even if she wanted to - she knows everyone thinks she's a psycho. But she's not...she just wants him to be as good as a man as Leonardo was.

(He has his eyesfacesmileEVERYTHING)

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There's only one month left of senior year and he can't believe everything is about to end.

Once Carly breaks up with him, Sam comes back into the picture and the views for iCarly go back up and both of their eyes shine again but Carly's will always shine brighter than Sam's and he wishes Sam was happier.

He usually drives Carly and Sam home in his brand new car, and things have gone back to normal but he knows Sam is hiding something from him but he doesn't know what and Freddie Benson loves to know everything.

Carly has a new boyfriend, Jeffrey, and he's a bad boy who wears leather jackets and tight jeans and tons of hair product on his hair and rides motorcycles and Spencer hates him and Freddie is on the same page. Carly doesn't mention their time together and it doesn't hurt as much (He's starting to get over his crush on Carly but Freddie Benson doesn't like change very much, either, so he'd like to pretend he's still in love with Carly) so he guesses he was another one of her flings.

And it'd felt so good, too.

(Do all good things have to come to an end?)

Carly and him have plenty of options when it comes to college and they even have a few scholarships for academics - but Sam? Sam doesn't have anything and no ambitions and he knows she's going to end up left behind. Her eyes don't shine again and it gets on his nerves.

Carly seems to be at her happiest and he's almost positive Spencer is going to propose to his longest girlfriend in _years, _Traci, and he feels like he should be happy, too.

But stupid Sam is bringing him down and he wishes he could just hold onto her and at the same time he just wants to shake her off and live the perfect fairytale life he was promised (You know, the one with the white picket fence and 2.5 children and a trophy wife who is brunette and has an award-winning smile and wears short little skirts and is a great cook).

It's a quiet Saturday, when him and Carly are spread out on her couch watching TV when she tells him why she broke up with him.

"I really liked you, Freddie," she says, all of the sudden, and he does a spit take and turns off the TV and what'sgoingon? "But..I..I had to break up with you. Sam...she loves you. I thought you were cute and I knew Spencer liked you and you had been in love with me for years, so it just seemed...right. But Sam...she loves you. With her, it's the real deal. That's why she stopped hanging out with us, too."

By now his mouth is wide open and then Carly is turning on the TV didthatevenhappen? and he feels sick and Freddie Benson is right back where he started-

_L o s t._

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It's the graduation after-party and he decides on MIT and Carly decides on some college in Miami because she wants somewhere she can party and she loves to wear her tooshort shorts and skirts and Sam decides not to go to college, and he worries about the blonde from that day on and doeshereallylovehimsomuch? and everything is a blur of crying, drunk, happy teenagers and he feels like he's gonna puke.

He's making his way through the crowd of sweaty eighteen-year-olds because he hadn't seen Sam in a while and Carly was starting to look really nervous.

He hears weird sounds in the bathroom and he knows something is wrong and he should have never opened that door.

He finds Sam wrapped around Shane (His so called friend) and it makes him feel even more sick and all she does is roll her eyes and it gets on his nerves how she just doesn't care and he's running out of the party.

Goodbye, high school. I'm done with your crap.

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Sam travels around the world, now, making her living off of various odd jobs and she's kind of homeless or something like that and Carly says Sam is trying to find where she belongs but they both know she belongs with him and Carly because they've been Carly&Sam&Freddie for so many years but they're all so tired of fighting.

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He's a junior in college when he sees Melanie again. At first he thinks it's Sam and his heart skips a beat but he knows from the ponytail with a ribbon in it and the soccer uniform that it's Melanie and he feels extremely confused.

"Melanie?" He says, instantly regretting it. He'd said to himself he'd avoid her, and she hadn't even noticed him, and then he says her name. Sam was right. He's an idiot. And a nerd.

"Freddie Benson?" She gasps, her eyes widening and her blue eyes don't shine - _they sparkle. _She's so peppy and so happy that she makes him justalittle sick and it's oddly comforting - the mix of Carly and Sam she is. Melanie squeals, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him so tight he can barely breath.

She looks up from his shoulder and kisses him for the third time and this time, he kisses back because Carly is still dating Jeffrey and he doesn't have any romantic feelings left for her and Sam ran away and he was never sure he was in love with her (oh, you so were) and he hasn't had a girlfriend since Carly which was the summer before senior year.

Both their eyes are open this time and it feels awkward and deep to be staring into someone's eyes while kissing that someone but they can't close their eyes because it feels like a special, life-altering moment and they want to remember it forever.

Her hair smells the same as Sam's did and her perfume reminds him of Carly and she's not wearing any make-up and she smells like sweat and she tastes like sugar and apples and sunshine and he could get lost in hair like this.

She pulls him closer to her (_Sam_) and her eyelashes lower (_Carly_) and she smiles against his lips - that's Melanie.

When they pull apart their breathless and it's only for a second before she tackles him and they land on the couch in the cafe and they're about to kiss again before they someone cough and they realize that they're in public and like five thousand people just saw them make out.

They blush at the same exact time and get up.

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"Sometimes I worry that you're just dating me because Carly and Sam won't be with you," she says quietly one night, when they're in his dorm room listening to music.

He removes his arm that's around her and he has to look away at her eyes feeling with tears. "Do you want to know the truth?"

"Yes, yes I do," she manages to choke out. They can't look the other in the eye.

"I think about Sam all the time, and honestly I used to like her...a lot. But now...now I think it's been to long since I last saw her and I know I wasn't in love. And Carly...she's like a sister now, really."

"What would Sam think?" she asks, scooting next to him again, now that that's moment over. "You know...of us."

"She probably wouldn't like it," he admits, flicking dirt out from under his stubby fingernails. "But...we can't think what would Sam think every time we do something. She's the one who left...we can't stop our lives for her."

She smiles sadly and the tears struggle their way down her face. "Okay, then." She lays her head on his shoulder and it's too quiet and it's too loud.

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He goes see her play soccer the next day for the very first time. She's amazing - and he's not just saying that because it's his girlfriend out there. No wonder she got millions of scholarships - she would've been fine without soccer, anyway, she's had straight A's every year since kindergarten.

He cheers the loudest - okay, not really, because he's sensible Freddie Benson but the only thing that matters is Melanie sees him and it makes her so happy because Sam and her Mom and everyone never really supported her soccer career and all the other girls have people cheering them on and finally, she has someone to cheer for her.

...Someone to _care._

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He takes her out to dinner after the game.

It's just Wendy's, really, but it's kind of like their first real date so it's important. She says she wishes she'd brought a change of clothes so he wouldn't remember their first date with her all sweaty and nasty but he thinks she looks amazing no matter what and he tells her exactly that and she laughs and places a hand over his and tells him he's such a beautiful liar and he gets this weird ache in his chest only Carly could make him have originally (is he in love with this girl?).

He orders a giant burger that Carly says is a heart attack waiting to happen and excepts Melanie to order a salad or something girly, but instead she says she'll have the same thing he's having and a vanilla shake.

His eyes widen and Melanie notices and giggles. "What, you thought I was gonna order a salad or some girly food? I just finished a game of soccer, I'm hungry!"

"Sorry," he laughs, shaking his head at the girl sitting across from him. Her eyes seemed to be laughing, too.

The waitress comes back with their food and it's super-fast, so Melanie talks him into leaving a tip when they finish their food.

She takes out her hoodie from her duffel and he can't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" Melanie asks, popping her head out from under the hoodie. She doesn't bother to brush down her hair that's now sticking up.

"Your hoodie...it has the Jonas Brothers on it," he manages to say. He's laughing so hard he's clutching his stomach and Melanie tries to look offended before she bursts out laughing.

When they calm down he shrugs on his jacket and they head outside. It's cold so Melanie runs to the car and it's late and Freddie doesn't feel like running but it's dark and Melanie is so tiny that he needs to keep up with her.

She makes a funny sound that makes him laugh more when he first turns the air on because it's just as cold as the air outside. Melanie, oh-so-dramatic, tells him that she's going to die if the air doesn't warm up and next time he's going to let the car warm up before they get in. She turns off the radio after he turns it on and digs through her duffel bag until she finds a CD that says Justin Bieber on it and seriously, what's wrong with her? She catches his annoyed look and simply giggles, putting in the CD.

He decides to just let it go, driving fast so they can hurry up and get back to his dorm room where it's warm and he doesn't have to listen to, of all things, _Justin Bieber._

(Okay, that "Baby" song was kind of catchy and this CD is kind of catchy but he's a man, and men don't like Justin Bieber.)

"You like this album, don't you?" Melanie giggled, and what the chiz? He doesn't get how she can always tell what he's thinking.

He smirks and says, in his most seductive voice, "That's a secret, babe." Melanie stares open-mouthed at him for a minute before she's laughing again and clutching her stomach and there's tears coming out of her eyes and it makes him laugh, too.

When they calm down, he thinks about his time with her and comments,

"You make me laugh. A lot. I think that means something."

Melanie rolls her eyes at this. "With you, everything has to have a deeper meaning...why can't you just live, Freddie?"

She closes her eyes and kisses him on the cheek and he wishes he could as carefree as Melanie was...or as carefree as Melanie pretended to be.

(If it wasn't for Sam, he's sure he wouldn't know anything about how almost everyone are built up on lies and you can't trust anyone pretty much and love is not a fairytale and he guesses he's glad for that.)

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They have their first fight before Christmas, and he can't even remember what it was about and all he knows is that he wants to wake up to Melanie singing the only lullaby she ever heard and cooking breakfast and his pillow to smell like her latest shampoo.

He gets her a new soccer ball and these earrings that had little soccer balls attached that Carly had said were "totally cute" when he sent her a picture from the store he was shopping in before buying them. He wished he could get her something better, but he's a college student and he doesn't have that much (any) money.

He knocks on her door on Christmas Eve and she opens it slightly, glaring at him and he swallows a lump in his throat and shoves the box in her arms. She snorts, and says _Fine, _and rips the wrapping paper off the box, taking her anger out on it, but when she sees the earrings she squeals and says, _Totally cute! _and grabs them out of the box, throwing the soccer ball on the ground.

She smiles. "What was that fight about, anyway?"

"I have no idea...and I really don't care." is the reply and she jumps into his arms and it's like a fairytale and she knows he'll always be there to catch her.

They have their first Christmas together, and Carly comes to visit them and they celebrate together and it's not as happy as it should be because they're all thinking about what Sam is doing and if she's okay (if she's even alive) and she'll always be a constant reminder of Yesterday but this is Tomorrow.

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_It's gonna be a long night..._


End file.
